Emad - What do you think happens when you die?
Abdullah - It's pretty obvious isn't it? You just cease to exist.
Emad - Is it that obvious? I mean, how do you know?
Abdullah - The same way I knew what it was like before I was born. Just non-existence. If you don't have any existence before birth, what could possibly make you think you have any existence after death? It's quite straightforward.
Sofia - Too bad you will cease to exist Mr. Abdullah, but I believe in a life after death. A life that will be determined by our actions in this life. Every action has consequences and if we don't face them in this life, we will surely face them in the afterlife.
Abdullah - So what if you've managed to face all consequences of your actions while you were alive? You wouldn't have anything to face in the afterlife, thus you wouldn't exist, am I right?
Sofia- Well....No that's not it. You tally your good actions and you tally your bad actions and the net worth of actions at the time of death is what defines your afterlife. So if you do slightly more than good, you have a slightly good afterlife; if you do a lot more bad than good, you have a really bad afterlife. Seems quite fair I would say.
Abdullah - Well life isn't fair Sofia. I thought you'd know that by now. Besides, how do you define what's good or bad?
Sofia - Well I'm sure you'd agree killing is bad and helping others is good?
Abdullah - Yes yes those are quite the obvious ones. But things aren't that black and white when we analyze the context around actions right? For instance, a man sleeping with someone other than his wife is a horrible crime here. He will be shunned by his society, might lose all his friends, his possessions, his family, his reputation, everything. Take that same action in the context of a polyamorous society where it's the norm. That act is considered a simple leisure activity. An event to bond with a friend, much like having a cup of coffee at Starbucks. There seems to be nothing inherently good or bad about that action. It's the society and culture around it that dictates it.
Sofia - What's your point then? You wanna sleep around with multiple women?
Abdullah - Haha no not at all. I love my wife and since I am a part of this society and culture, I too consider it a terrible act. But from a very objective point of view, there is nothing inherently evil about that act. This is just one example of many things, quite possibly all things, that are perceived differently in different contexts.
Sofia - Exactly. Context matters. In one case, you don't hurt anyone and you haven't caused anyone injustice. In the other, you have. That's why it's a bad action in the latter context.
Abdullah - Aaaah so you're saying it's the emotional reaction from that action that defines it to be good or bad?
Sofia - Well I mean yeah....
Abdullah - So lets say, I sleep with another woman. My wife finds out, but she doesn't love me anymore so this act doesn't hurt her. Does that make it okay? To spit on the holiness of matrimony? Or say that I disclosed a personal secret of a friend to everyone after he died. He isn't hurt because he isn't alive. Does that make it okay? To disrespect the trust he put on me?
Sofia - Umm....N.....
Abdullah - And that is my point. When you dig down to the core, you will find that no action is inherently good or bad. It's the context that matters. Killing is bad, but when someone kills the oppressor of a nation, he is a hero. Stealing is bad, but when someone steals from the filthy rich who exploit child labor, everyone applauds them.
Sofia - Well not really. You said the context matters. So within the framework of the context, actions can be defined as good or bad. Like in your example, killing the oppressor of a nation would be a good deed.
